Criteria: Reputation among soccer historians and journalists, Personal achievements or awards, Success on club and national level, Importance and influence to sport's history, Ability/Skill/Talent

1. Pelé (Brazil, Inside Left) (Santos)
2. Diego Maradona (Argentina, Second Striker) (Argentinos Juniors, Napoli)
3. Lionel Messi (Argentina, Deep-Lying Forward) (Barcelona)
4. Alfredo di Stéfano (Argentina/Columbia/Spain, Centre Forward) (Millonarios, Real Madrid)
5. Johan Cruyff (The Netherlands, Centre Forward) (Ajax, Barcelona)
6. Franz Beckenbauer (West Germany, Sweeper/Midfielder) (Bayern Munich, New York Cosmos)
7. Ferenc Puskás (Hungary/Spain, Inside Left) (Budapest Honvéd, Real Madrid)
8. Zinedine Zidane (France, Attacking Midfielder) (Bordeaux, Juventus, Real Madrid)
9. Michel Platini (France, Attacking Midfielder) (AS Nancy, AS Saint-Éttienne, Juventus)
10. Garrincha (Brazil, Wing Forward) (Botafogo)

11. Eusébio (Portugal, Centre Forward) (Benfica)
12. Lev Yashin (USSR, Goalkeeper) (Dynamo Moscow)
13. Gerd Müller (West Germany, Centre Forward) (Bayern Munich)
14. Bobby Charlton (England, Attacking Midfielder) (Manchester United)
15. Marco Van Basten (The Netherlands, Centre Forward) (Ajax, AC Milan)
16. Ronaldo (Brazil, Centre Forward) (PSV Eindhoven, Real Madrid)
17. Zico (Brazil, Second Striker) (Flamengo)
18. Giuseppe Meazza (Italy, Attacking Midfielder) (Internazionale)
19. George Best (Northern Ireland, Wing Forward) (Manchester United)
20. Franco Baresi (Italy, Sweeper/Defender) (AC Milan)

21. Sándor Kocsis (Hungary, Inside Right) (Ferencvárosi TC, Budapest Honvéd, Barcelona)
22. Stanley Matthews (England, Wing Forward) (Stoke City, Blackpool)
23. Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal, Right Midfielder)(Manchester United, Real Madrid)
24. Lothar Matthäus (Germany, Sweeper/Midfielder) (Borussia Mönchengladbach, Bayern Munich, Internazionale)
25. Giacinto Facchetti (Italy, Left-Back) (Internazionale)
26. Roberto Baggio (Italy, Second Striker) (Fiorentina, Juventus, Brescia)
27. Paulo Maldini (Italy, Defender) (AC Milan)
28. Zizinho (Brazil, Forward) (Flamengo, Bangu Atlético Clube)
28. Bobby Moore (England, Central Defender) (West Ham United)
30. Juan Schiaffino (Uruguay/Italy, Midfielder/Forward) (CA Peñarol, AC Milan)

31. Matthias Sindelar (Austria, Centre Forward) (FK Austria Vienna)
32. Ruud Gullit (The Netherlands, Midfielder/Forward) (Haarlem, Feyenoord, AC Milan)
33. Dino Zoff (Italy, Goalkeeper) (Mantova, Napoli, Juventus)
34. Fritz Walter (West Germany, Forward) (1. FC Kaiserslautern)
35. Didi (Brazil, Central Midfielder) (Fluminense, Botafogo)
36. Romário (Brazil, Centre Forward) (Vasco da Gama, PSV Eindhoven)
37. Just Fontaine (France, Centre Forward) (Nice, Stade de Reims)
38. Francisco Gento (Spain, Forward) (Real Madrid)
39. Xavi Hernandez (Spain, Central Midfielder) (Barcalona)
40. Ronaldinho (Brazil, Second Striker)(Barcelona)

41. Rivelino (Brazil, Midfielder/Forward) (Corinthians, Fluminense)
42. Silvio Piola (Italy, Centre Forward) (Pro Vercelli, Lazio, Novara)
43. Jairzinho (Brazil, Wing Forward) (Botafogo)
44. Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (West Germany, Forward) (Bayern Munich)
45. Gordon Banks (England, Goalkeeper) (Leicester City, Stoke City)
46. Arthur Friedenreich (Brazil, Centre Forward) (Athletico Paulistano)
47. Djalma Santos (Brazil, Right Back) (Portuguesa, Palmeiras)
48. Uwe Seeler (West Germany, Forward) (Hamburger SV)
49. Sepp Maier (West Germany, Goalkeeper) (Bayern Munich)
50. Leônidas da Silva(Brazil, Forward) (Flamenco, Sao Paulo)

51. Fernando Peyroteo (Portugal, Forward) (Sporting Lisbon)
52. Nilton Santos (Brazil, Right Back) (Botafogo)
53. Jose Nasazzi (Uruguay, Defender) (Bella Vista, Nacional)
54. László Kubala (Hungary/Czechoslovakia/Spain, Midfielder/Forward) (Barcelona)
55. Oleg Blokhin (USSR, Forward) (Dinamo Kyiv)
56. Falcão (Brazil, Attacking Midfielder) (Internacional, AS Roma)
57. Kenny Dalglish (Scotland, Second Striker) (Celtic, Liverpool)
58. Gianni Rivera (Italy, Midfielder) (AC Milan)
59. José Manuel Moreno (Argentina, Forward) (River Plate)
60. José Leandro Andrade (Uruguay, Right Half) (Nacional, CA Peñarol)

61. Josef Masopust (Czechoslovakia, Central Midfielder)(Dukla Prague)
62. Josef Bican (Austria/Czechoslovakia, Centre Forward) (Rapid Vienna, Slavia Prague)
63. Raymond Kopa (France, Forward) (Stade de Reims)
64. Valentino Mazzola (Italy, Forward) (Torino)
65. Omar Sivori (Argentina, Second Striker) (River Plate, Juventus, Napoli)
66. Michael Laudrup (Denmark, Attacking Midfielder) (Juventus, Barcelona)
67. Ricardo Zamora (Spain, Goalkeeper) (Espanyol, Barcelona, Real Madrid)
68. Angel Labruna (Argentina, Forward) (River Plate)
69. Nils Liedholm (Sweden, Central Midfielder) (AC Milan)
70. Sócrates (Brazil, Attacking Midfileder) (Corinthians)

71. Jose Altafini (Italy/Brazil, Forward) (Palmeiras, AC Milan, Napoli, Juventus)
72. Daniel Passarella (Argentina, Central Defender) (River Plate, Fiorentina)
73. Gunnar Nordahl (Sweden, Forward) (Degerfors IF, IFK Norrköping, AC Milan)
74. Denis Law (Scotland, Centre Forward) (Huddersfield Town, Manchester United)
75. Andreas Iniesta (Spain) (Barcelona)
76. Ernst Ocwirk (Austria, Central Midfielder) (Austria Vienna, Sampdoria)
77. József Bozsik (Hungary, Defensive Midfielder) (Budapest Honvéd)
78. Peter Schmeichel (Denmark, Goalkeeper)(Brondby, Manchester United)
79. Kevin Keegan (England, Centre Forward) (Scunthorpe United, Liverpool, Hamburger SV, Southampton)
80. Tostão (Brazil, Forward) (Cruzeiro Esporte Clube)

81. Arsenio Erico (Paraguay, Centre Forward) (Independiente)
82. Jimmy Johnstone (Scotland, Wing Forward) (Celtic)
83. Nándor Hidegkuti (Hungary, Forward) (MTK Hungária, Budapesti Bastya, Voros Lobogo)
84. Rafael Gordillo (Spain, Left Back) (Real Betis, Real Madrid)
85. Johan Neeskans (The Netherlands, Central Midfielder)(Ajax, Barcelona)
86. Paul Van Himst (Belgium, Forward) (Anderlecht)
87. John Charles (Wales, Centre Forward) (Leeds United, Juventus, Cardiff City, Hereford United)
88. Hugo Sánchez (Mexico, Centre Forward) (Pumas de UNAM, Atlético Madrid, Real Madrid)
89. Adolfo Pedernera (Argentina, Forward)(River Plate)
90. Obdulio Varela (Hungary, Centre Half) (Montevido Wanderers, CA Peñarol)

91. Sandro Mazzola (Italy, Attacking Midfielder) (Internazionale)
92. Hristo Stoichkov (Bulgaria, Second Striker) (CSKA Sofia, Barcelona)
93. Elías Figueroa (Chile, Central Defender) (CA Peñarol, Internacional, Palestino)
94. György Sárosi (Hungary, Second Striker) (Ferencvárosi TC)
95. Gaetano Scirea (Italy, Sweeper) (Juventus)
96. Rivaldo (Brazil, Attacking Midfielder) (Barcelona)
97. George Weah (Liberia, Forward) (AS Monaco, AC Milan)
98. Paul Breitner (Germany, Defender/Midfielder)(Bayern Munich, Real Madrid)
99. Raimundo Orsi (Argentina/Italy, Centre Forward) (Juventus)
100. Bernabé Ferreyra (Argentina, Forward) (River Plate)

I can't believe nobody has commented on this yet

I think they're all trying to avoid yet another Cruyff vs. Beckenbauer debate.

Cruyff is clearly better than Beckenbauer. I didn't comment because I had not seen this list. It's kinda nice but I think we must accept that Zidane was better than Platini, and Müller is extremely high.

I don't think is Muller too high. He's arguably the greatest goalscorer ever.

And they'd have a pretty damn good argument too. He's in a good spot.

I'd lean towards Zidane > Platini too, but there's plenty on here who wouldn't agree, it's a good starting point for a debate we haven't had in a while though, so floor's open...

Well, I think Platini is being overloved, and I think the reason is we don't want him down Zidane. But leaving Zidane out, was he really better than Garrincha? He's top ten, I give you that, but I don't know, I see him too high.

About Müller... he was fantastic, I don't think he's the greatest goalscorer, but he could actually be. But football is not just scoring goals, and I think Best, Van Basten and Charlton were better all around players.

And I have a little doubt with this. Are you putting all the teams for which each one has played or just choosing the most important? If it's the first option, you're forgetting some.

Yeah, I'm just putting the most important teams as it would be a mess for some players otherwise.

I know football isn't just about scoring goals, otherwise Muller would be top 5, no question, but his goalscoring ability is still incredible, I know that Best, Charlton, Van Basten etc. were much better on the ball, but it's not just about being on the ball and Muller probably had the greatest off the ball ability of any player ever.

Well, Platini has a much, much better scoring record but Zidane has a lot more club honours.

Also, has more individual honours. He is the only player to have won the Ballon d'or 3 years running and one of only 3 players to have won it 3 times overall (with Cruyff and Van Basten).

I'll admit I didn't know a lot about Platini before you posed that question and to be honest I expected a lot more honours from him. He had an underwhelming honours list although I was pretty impressed with his goal scoring record. I guess it would be pretty logical to have Zidane ahead of him based on success. Importance, reputation and skill I couldnt really argue either for or against, though.

If I wagered a guess though I'd have:

Importance - Platini
Reputation - Zidane
Skill - ?

I still haven't changed the criteria since George made the list, I put more emphasis on indivdual honours than team honours.

I do still think Zidane should be ahead of Platini, but I believe a lot of people argue that Platini was more important to France in winning Euro84 than Zidane ever was.

He also has an absolutely ridiculous scoring record for a midfielder.

You've got Varela's nationality wrong. He's Uruguayan.

A very bold statement which I for one disagree with. Cruyff is clearly a more skillful player than Beckenbauer but he is possibly more skillful then everyone who ever played the game.

I know The Dutch team from '74 and The Wunderteam are regarded as wonderful but I think the teams who actually defeated them in major tournaments and won other trophies too deserve to be higher.
I've said it before but I think the Germany '74 team is better than the same Dutch team. Remember that the Germans did actually beat them in that final and it wasn't by fluke, also the same team won the '72 Euro Champs and were runners-up in '76. The Dutch team didn't even qualify for either. Also still no mention of '34-'38 Italy who defeated the Wunderteam on various occasions and actually won things.

I know you will think I am biased but what actually makes the Barca 08-09 team or the Man Utd 98-99 better then the Celtic team of '67 ?
All three teams won everything available to them but Celtic done it with effectively a local select team and virtually no budget, whereas the other 2 had millions to spend and a vast array of international superstars.

I think
7. Benifica
8. Celtic
9. Man Utd
9. Barca

Is more accurate I think